


Friendly Investigations

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Banter, Chill Felix, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Secret Relationship, Soft Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Spying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:21:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25966561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Felix is unusually chill lately, but he won't say why. Naturally, the logical thing to do is spy on him to find out!
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 2
Kudos: 56
Collections: FE3H Kink Meme





	Friendly Investigations

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** Sylvain, Dimitri and Ingrid notice that Felix’s been acting strange lately: he’s less impatient, he’s distracted on classes and is spending even less time with his peers.
> 
> The three of them decide to investigate just what is going on, but Felix obviously won’t tell them. Sylvain then proposes that they follow Felix at night (when he goes to the training grounds to train by himself) and see what the hell is going on. Dimitri and Ingrid think that they won’t find much, but decide to go.
> 
> Upon sneakily arriving at the training grounds, they found Felix, but he’s not alone! In fact, he’s talking to someone else about date details and being all lovey dovey. Sylvain, Ingrid and Dimitri are completely shocked that *Felix* of all people is dating.
> 
> TL;DR: Felix is secretly dating someone. The other Fearghus Four find out and are flabbergasted
> 
> I’ll accept any Felix ship and timeline. If you want to include Rodrigue finding out, that’s also great!

They weren't _that_ surprised when Felix spent less time with them than usual, because being a lone wolf was Felix's thing. Or his being distracted during classes because Felix preferred hands-on training to reading books and taking notes.

It was the sudden rise in patience that jarred them, and the overall change in temperament. Not that Felix was suddenly Mr. Sunshine, but he seemed to have more...for lack of a better word, _chill._ He didn't scowl or snap even if something annoyed him, only frown and shrug it off with a _whatever._

"Maybe he finally got laid," Sylvain said, and Dimitri and Ingrid rolled their eyes because that was his answer to everything. "What, he could've!" Ingrid shook her head.

"There's plenty of possible reasons he's less...well, _Felix_ lately," she said. "Maybe the professor or Seteth or Lady Rhea had a little talk with him about his attitude. Maybe he came to the conclusion himself that being a pain in the neck gets you nowhere. Or maybe he found a new hobby."

"I've seen him heading towards the greenhouse lately, and the kitchens," Dimitri mused. "The other day he went to the former while _Dedue_ was there. I kept an eye on them, but they didn't even speak to each other. If Felix is distracted enough not to harass Dedue..."

"Well, _that's_ a relief. Much as I adore him, I'm always tempted to smack him every time he calls Dedue a dog or a cur or what have you," Sylvain said. Dimitri bit his lip, looking guilty.

"What I suggest feels horrible and wrong, but I also know Dedue is not fond of Felix. I wonder if..." He trailed off. "No, even Dedue with all his hatred of those who would harm he wouldn't go that far. If someone else is involved it must be Claude."

"You think he put some kind of potion in his food? But if that were the case Felix would be _sick,_ not in a better mood," Ingrid said. "But hey, rather than standing here trying to guess, we _could_ just ask him." Dimitri and Sylvain exchanged glances, then smiled.

"You know, that's just crazy enough to work!" Sylvain said. "We'll ask him during lunch! And hey, they're serving one of his favorites so he should be in an even better mood."

The good news was that asking Felix about his change in mood didn't trigger a snap back to his grumpiness. The bad news was that he was vague and kept changing the subject until Ingrid decided they should just give up and go with it.

"Time for plan B," Sylvain said as they sat in the library, barely paying attention to their books. "You know how he goes off to train by himself at night? Let's follow him and see what we can find out."

"You mean stalk him," Dimitri said flatly. Ingrid blew her bangs off of her forehead, giving Sylvain a Look.

"That's both the dumbest and creepiest idea you've ever had."

"Oh, come on, he won't tell us himself!" Sylvain protested. "And whatever's making him so happy, we ought to make sure it's nice and legal, you know? As his friends, it's our job to look after him!" Ingrid sighed, closing her lance manual and shaking her head.

"Even I think you're going too far, and it's my _job_ to babysit you three."

"And I doubt we'll find anything, anyway," Dimitri said. "He's just going to train. _If_ I thought this idea of yours had any merit, Sylvain, I would suggest following him during the daytime." Sylvain smirked, closing his Applied Reason book and sliding his pencil behind his ear.

"Ah, but you only _assume_ that's what he's doing. See, Felix lives for the sword so if he says he's going to be training every night for the rest of the moon, that's what he's doing and they won't ask questions. He has a built-in cover story for whatever he's up to!"

Ingrid and Dimtiri exchanged a look. He wasn't wrong.

"It's still not one of your best ideas," Dimitri said.

"Well, I'm doing it anyway, so are you two in or out?" Sylvain asked.

"In, obviously," Ingrid said. "Someone's got to make sure you stay out of trouble."

"And someone needs to make sure you two don't end up arguing and lose your focus," Dimitri said, as if all Ingrid and Sylvain ever _did_ was argue like children. Unless he was teasing, but it was hard to tell with Dimitri.

That night, they put on dark-colored cloaks to hide their hair and waited behind the stairs. Once Felix was a safe distance away but still within their sight, they followed him, making sure to keep at least three feet behind him. Sylvain had offered to use his fire magic to light the way, but Dimitri had talked him out of it.

To Ingrid's relief, they managed to make it to the training grounds without any fuss. Sylvain stepped on her heel once, she almost tripped over Dimitri, and Dimitri almost sneezed once. Twice they almost lost track of Felix, and Dimitri still wouldn't let Sylvain cast Fire. But somehow, they made it without getting caught.

"Okay, he's alone," Ingrid whispered. "What are we looking for?" If it turned out he _was_ just training and they'd wasted a good chunk of the night...well, she supposed she couldn't be angry, but she knew if Seteth caught them sneaking around he'd demand an explanation.

(On the bright side, if they _did_ get caught, maybe Seteth knew something about Felix's mood.)

"Anything, really," Sylvain said. "Is he alone, did he discover some new training method? _Is_ he doing something...y'know, sketchy? Claude doesn't _just_ make poisons, you know." Dimitri rolled his eyes.

"You're being awfully overprotective for someone who's been caught smuggling wine back to his room for his dates," he hissed.

"I'm older than you two."

"So that gives you the right to be a hypocrite?" Ingrid grumbled as Felix, still oblivious to their presence, glanced over his shoulder. Why hadn't he gone inside yet? The training grounds weren't locked at this hour, Felix wasn't the _only_ one who trained this late.

"I'm not a hypocrite," Sylvain argued. "I'm just-"

The sound of hurried footsteps caught their ears just then, and the argument died. A smaller cloaked figure was making their way over to Felix; they looked over their shoulder once, twice, then sighed with relief. Felix stepped closer to the figure, taking their hand.

"You made it," he whispered. "Sorry we have to meet here, and this late."

"Well," the figure began, and Ingrid immediately recognized her voice, "it's still early enough that I don't mind, but remember, you promised me I wouldn't be your little secret for too long! I've read enough books to know that after a while this secret thing stops being romantic and starts making a girl feel like she's not _good_ enough."

"Lucky for me, I explained myself first so you wouldn't slap the _evil_ label on me yet again." Felix snorted. "Honestly, _I'm_ the one who's not sure I'm good enough for _you._ Especially with your father teaching here." Ingrid shot a glance towards Sylvain and Dimitri who looked just as surprised as she felt.

"-tomorrow night," Annette was saying. "I'll make us a picnic and bring it to the courtyard garden, and we can watch the stars!"

"I hope it doesn't rain," Felix said. "The greenhouse has flowers, but it's _way_ too hot to spend more than five minutes in there, much less two hours. But if it does rain...well, there's always the gazebo, right? Or the stairwell?" Annette giggled.

"How romantic! Sitting under the stairs with a basket between us, listening to people's shoes." Felix _laughed._ Honest to goddess laughed, not just his usual standoffish scoff.

"Actually, that does sound kind of cozy. Maybe we should just meet there instead."

" _Felix!_ "

"I'm kidding." He leaned forward and Ingrid could tell he'd just kissed her, even with Annette's hood obscuring most of it. "The courtyard it is. And...maybe after this secret date, we can start telling people about us. At least your father, so he doesn't think we're up to no good."

"I'd rather tell the professor first," Annette said quietly. "I mean, last time I talked to my father, well..."

"Oh, right." Felix put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Sorry. But listen, remember what I said? He's gotta come around eventually, and if not...well, you can't give up." She could practically see him biting his tongue. "He's your father. He needs to remember that."

They kept talking, and all the while Ingrid and Sylvain and Dimitri just listened until the pair kissed once more and parted ways, walking back towards the dorms. Felix's steps were definitely lighter than they were before.

"Wow," Ingrid breathed once he was out of earshot. "That was...unexpected."

"That's a word for it, yes," Dimitri murmured. "I remember last month I overheard her in the greenhouse, yelling at him over...something or other. She almost doesn't seem like his type, does she?"

"Apparently she is." Ingrid shrugged. Sylvain, meanwhile, grinned widely, and Ingrid remembered what he'd said earlier. " _Not a word,_ Sylvain."

"I was _sort_ of right! Maybe they're not actually sleeping together, but-"

" _Sylvain,_ " Dimitri said, and Sylvain pouted.

"You two never let me have fun."

"Please, we just played detective so we could watch Felix play kissy-face with Annette," Ingrid muttered. "Still, you did say we'd find something, so we'll let you have this. Just don't go getting a big head over it."

"Come on, me? A big head?" Sylvain chuckled, slinging an arm around her and taking Dimitri's hand. "Now let's go back to our rooms before Seteth finds us and reads us the riot act."

The next day, when Felix came to class with a smile and shiny eyes, the three of them said hello to him as though they hadn't been watching him last night. But when Annette came in and took the seat next to his, Ingrid couldn't help sharing a look with Sylvain and Dimitri.

_Annette, I don't know how you got him to lighten up, but keep doing it. After the past four years, it's good to see him happy again._


End file.
